Leap of Faith
by Darkheart Du Lac
Summary: A night exercise at Brecon Beacons on a dangerous, untested new course. Can Alex and K Unit put aside their differences long enough to survive, or will it all come crashing down under the pressure?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I finally had the guts to post something. I'm not sure if this is completely awful or not, so getting a review would be really awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider... *sigh*...

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**_Leap of Faith_**

**Chapter 1**

* * *

It was cold when the light flicked on in the cabin. Alex had been huddled under the sheet for warmth, curled up in a safe nest of sleep, and the muffled light seemed too far away for him to care about. He was _tired_. It couldn't be morning yet. The pattern of thread blurred before his eyes as he let them slip shut again.

The sheet was ripped off him. Icy air hit Alex like a bucket of cold water and he bolted up straight, goose-bumps breaking out on his bare arms. For a second he gulped cold air, then ran a hand through his hair and blinked at his surroundings. Cabin 4. Brecon Beacons. The overhead light was dim, but he didn't need it to recognise this place. Right now, there were three dark silhouettes silently getting dressed.

"Come on, Cub," said Eagle lowly as he exchanged one dark, shapeless shirt for another. His bed was the closest. Apparently it was him who had given Alex the cruel awakening. "You know the drill."

Two minutes later Alex found himself standing in line outside the barracks, trying to subtly warm up without attracting the attention of the soldiers around him. This was Alex's fourth month here since Cairo, and the place had barely changed in a year and a half. Same ugly barracks, grey sky, muddy brown landscape with the rare patch of green. Even the faces were the same, if a little harder and wiser. After an assassination attempt in America, he'd been whisked back to England and sent to the safest place that MI6 could come up with: Brecon Beacons. He hadn't been told how long it would last. "Indefinitely" was the word they had used. He really hoped it wasn't their way of saying "forever".

K Unit had been less than thrilled to see him back, especially when they learned that he was to be Fox's replacement. Snake and Eagle hadn't liked it one bit, but it was Wolf who had reacted the worst - the man had charged up to the Sergeant office and Alex didn't know what he'd done or said after he'd slammed the door behind him, but it was enough to get him suspended from training for half a week. Wildlife rumours had spread through the camp.

Alex didn't know if he'd protested because he was worried about him or because he still thought of him as an immature burden on the team, but there was one thing he knew for sure: since the famed argument, something had turned cold between them. Wolf wasn't bullying him like the last time he'd been here, but he acted like he didn't trust him. For Alex it was ten times worse.

The Sergeant strode out of a cabin, looking pretty tired himself. Everyone present stood to attention.

"Right," he said crisply. "Units F, S and J – you're down in the lake tonight. H, Y and L, you're in the killing house. R and K have the tripwire course. Any questions?"

An uneasy sort of ripple went through the line. Nobody spoke, but it was there.

"Sir?" A voice floated out of the darkness.

The Sergeant's eyes glinted as they searched for its owner, and locked onto a raised, pale hand. "Hare?"

"Is it safe yet, sir? The tripwire course?"

"As safe as it'll ever be," he replied tartly.

Even in the dark, Alex could see the frowns at that. And hear the murmurs. Apparently the Sergeant had too.

"Somebody has to test these things," he said clearly over their heads, "and you are supposed to be Britain's most elite soldiers."

Seeing the logic, the frowns were replaced by nods, but Alex noticed the glances that were sent his way.

_Britain's most elite soldiers, plus a fifteen-year-old kid._

"Any more questions?"

Alex tensed, waiting for someone to point out the obvious, but this time he was met only with silence, the shuffling of combat boots and the distant howl of the wind over Welsh hills. It really was cold tonight. Biting.

"Good." The Sergeant nodded approvingly. "If you're back by four, we'll let you have a nice, warm sleep. Dismissed! Try not to get yourselves killed."

* * *

"There are five phases," the instructor repeated for the fourth time. "You'd do well to remember that when you get into the course."

Eagle was doing warm-up stretches on his biceps. Contract, hold, relax. A burning in the muscle that was replaced by a pleasant tingling when he let go.

"This isn't the sort of assault course that can be rushed in half an hour. You need to be careful. It's not about going in there all guns blazing this time. That's why we're not giving you weapons - although if you got jumpy and shot yourself in the foot, I'd say it was your own damn fault."

Eagle's arms felt successfully unstiffened. He switched to his calves and began a steady rhythm, letting the words of advice float in and out of his brain, half-processed.

"And you need to work together. I can't stress that enough. Without teamwork, at least one of you _will_ get hurt on this course."

The instructor had finally finished. Eagle stood up straight and took his place next to Wolf. Cub and Snake stood slightly behind them, as they did on the assault course. It was like a natural formation or something; they never talked about it, it just happened that way. R Unit were standing in a similar position a little way over to their right, two of them talking in low voices as they glanced up at their first obstacle.

It was a wall. A wall not unlike ones Eagle had climbed before, but it was high, and towards the end it slanted over their heads like some free-for-all roller-coaster.

"You ready?" he muttered to Wolf, wringing his hands to warm up.

Wolf smirked. "Piece of cake."

A shrill whistle cut the air, taking Eagle by surprise. The other seven soldiers surged forwards. Eagle cursed mentally and sprinted to catch them up. When he reached the wall, his blood was pumping with adrenaline. Despite everything, Eagle grinned. This was what he lived for.

He pulled the rope taut. One foot in front of the other. It was easy.

His first step was shaky. The wall, like their huts, was constructed of horizontal planks of wood with no grip at all. There were no knots on the rope to hold onto, and when he wound his fingers into it Eagle realised that it had rained earlier in the night, making the rough thread slippery under his fingers.

Shit.

Well, it wasn't like he could jump down and announce he wasn't going to do it. After all, he'd signed up for this. Gritting his teeth, he took another step up, levelling his feet with the weight in his toes. His next few steps made him arms shake but brought his feet level with his torso. He flattened them out, shifting the weight. _Now_ he felt more balanced. Eagle grinned to himself, and started striding properly up the wall.

It took a few minutes to reach the slant, but he had already resolved to keep going against gravity. He let some of the rope slip from his grip so that he was tipped slightly upside down but perpendicular to the wall. The blood was just starting to drain to his head when he felt the rope thicken and realised that he had reached the top of the wall, above the overhang where it was flat. Cautiously, he felt along the unseen ledge until his fingers brushed metal: the rope hook. Eagle wound his fingers through it and pulled himself up.

He was the first. He could tell instantly. Well, _that_ was a first in itself – usually it was Wolf who did the best in these things, with Eagle second and Snake bringing up the rear. Fox had used to be Eagle's equal and opposite; they'd had the same height, same build and same skills. But Fox wasn't there anymore. Cub was good, but he wasn't a full replacement for Fox, not really. And besides, he was SO - who knew what kind of weird, creepy skills he was hiding?

R Unit's leader, Lion, had also made it to the top. The man gave him a brief nod and turned to help Hare up over the edge. Eagle understood. This wasn't an official challenge or a race, but the unit that finished last wouldn't be the one telling their story in the mess hall at breakfast. Curiously, he turned away to examine the first stretch of the course.

The wall, it turned out, was actually the side of square block building. He'd noticed that the instant he'd hauled himself up. There was a zip wire to the ground on the other side, but all he could see past that was a long stretch of dark grass, mostly encased in the shadows cast by the high complex walls. Dotted down the sides were glaring floodlights that went on and on until they were square dots of light in the distance, nearing the edge of the forest they used for survival hikes.

Bloody hell. If this was an assault course, it wasn't one like he'd ever seen before.

"You okay?"

The voice made Eagle jump so high he nearly toppled right back to the ground. Swivelling around, he saw Cub getting to his feet.

"Where did you come from?" he snapped, unable to hold back the accusation in his voice.

Cub frowned slightly. "The same place you did," he said slowly.

Eagle looked him up and down, and noticed red welts of rope burn on his palms. In the corner of his eye, the first member of R Unit lined up with the zip wire. Eagle took a breath. "Sorry, kid. You just scared the shit out of me there. Where's Wolf?"

The kid shrugged. He did that a lot. "Got a little freaked halfway up, I think."

Oh. The fear of heights. Eagle had thought he was over that.

"And Snake?"

"Slipped."

"Slipped? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, Eagle, I am." A familiar, faint Scottish voice. Eagle pushed past Cub to see Snake with his forearms resting a little awkwardly along the top on the wall, looking simultaneously pleased and pissed. He'd had the sense to tie himself to the rope before attempting to get onto the ledge. On instinct, Eagle held out a paw to pull him to his feet, and as they came face to face Snake shot him a grin. "But thanks for asking."

"Stop messing around."

Wolf had finally joined them. He ignored Snake's outstretched hand and pushed himself to his feet. The floodlight behind him cast his face in a dark shadow.

"You okay, Wolf?" Eagle tested in a slightly softer voice than usual.

"'Course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, Cub said..."

"Yeah? What did Cub say?" Wolf took a step forwards, not towards Eagle but to Cub.

Snake shook his head at Eagle behind Wolf's back. Cub looked as he always did: mostly unfazed, like he was thinking hard about something, and alert like a dog with pricked ears. Snake shook his head more insistently, and the instructor's words of advice drifted back.

_You need to work together._

The instructor had made it pretty clear that without teamwork, they were screwed. Snake was right: they couldn't afford a fight between Wolf and Cub. It just wasn't in either of their natures to back down.

"...he just said that you slipped. But Snake did too, you know. It was a... a hard climb."

Wolf's eyes did not leave Cub. The kid stared back silently.

"Come on," Wolf said eventually, breaking the gaze and pushing past him towards the zip wire. "We're wasting time."

This was going to be a long night.

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Please review!

**Ally xoxo**


	2. Chapter 2

22 reviews for a first chapter?! You guys _rock_.

Good luck to any freshers who are starting university now! Have an awesome time! And a shout out to any younger siblings who are feeling down that they've been left behind and/or jumping for joy that they've inherited an Xbox. I'm currently doing both.

Disclaimer: I make no claim to Alex Rider.

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**Chapter 2**

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The second phase was a field. The second of five phases, according to the instructor. Five phases. _The four misfits must work together and put aside their differences to complete the mysterious five-part quest._

Wolf was a soldier. He did not appreciate the feeling that he had been sucked into a bad action movie. All they needed now was a love interest and some ancient cursed treasure.

He was at the head of the group as they moved briskly from floodlight to floodlight. The field was dark and surprisingly springy underfoot. After mentally measuring the distance, they'd decided to walk instead of run on the basis that they had no idea what the next "phase" might be. If Wolf was honest, what he'd seen on the tripwire course so far had been pretty pathetic. A wall and now a field? Jeez. If he'd had wanted endless boredom, he'd have stayed in college.

Behind him, Eagle was voicing the same thoughts.

"...sucks, right? I mean, at least on survival they let us sleep."

"Yeah," Snake agreed. "I don't get this. It's like someone mixed the assault course with the killing house, survival and some haunted house movie."

"Maybe it's supposed to test our reactions," Cub said quietly. Wolf was surprised. He usually kept to himself on courses like this. So much for teamwork.

"Why do you say that?" Snake queried. Wolf could hear the curiosity.

"To make it more realistic. If this was a war zone, it would more intense than any normal assault course."

His words were met with uncomfortable silence and the acutest of reactions. Eagle coughed into his sleeve, his step quickening slightly, and Snake's face tightened. Wolf looked down. Of course. Cub didn't know, did he? Less than five months ago, three quarters of K Unit _had_ been in a war zone – not that any of them were talking about it. And four months ago, when Cub has arrived at Brecon with his life on his back, it had been Wolf that had asked the fateful question: next time there were deployed, would he go with them?

"I still don't like it," said Snake.

A thought occurred to Wolf and he half-turned towards his teammates, but before he speak it was wiped cleanly from his head.

"WATCH OUT!"

The yell was shockingly loud, and followed immediately by a shout of alarm that was cut short by a thump.

"_Snake!_"

Heart skipping, Wolf's hand sprang automatically to his gun – which was, of course, not there. _Shit!_ Who the _fuck _thought that an unarmed night exercise would be a good idea?!

Wolf whipped around. Snake was lying on the ground, a hand pressed against his forehead. Eagle was kneeling next to him, and a few feet away was Cub. Unmoving. A flash of fear shot through Wolf, spurring him into action.

He dropped to the kid's side and picked up his wrist, listening carefully and double checking at his neck when he got a pulse. Leaning over him, there was a brush of breath against his cheek too. So he was alive – but was he hurt? His lip was split, Wolf noticed distantly; the blood looked very dark, almost black, on his skin. But apart from that there was no obvious injury - no red staining Cub's dusty green combats - not even when Wolf awkwardly rolled him over, half expecting to see a pool of blood spreading on his back. But there was nothing.

A logical part of Wolf's brain was already slowing down, telling him that there had been no explosion, no gunshots…

_But what is there was a silencer?_

A rope constricted around his chest, and a sudden, horrible feeling of vulnerability washed over Wolf. Swallowing, he glanced up at the perimeter wall that enclosed the field like a prison yard. The lights were too strong to look against for more than a second, not unless he wanted to kill his retina, so they were blind as well as exposed. If Wolf was up there with a gun, he could have picked them off in less than a minute…

"Uh... what happened?"

Wolf's head snapped down. Cub was awake. His brown eyes blinked unsteadily, taking a few seconds longer than they should have to focus on Wolf.

"I was just going to ask you that myself. What do you remember?" Wolf asked clearly. Safe, standard questions for now.

Cub frowned, a dazed look clouding his face. He opened his mouth but suddenly he flexed his arms instead, as if realising that he had them for the first time. Wolf watched cautiously as he tried to push himself up.

"Steady," he warned, catching the kid's arm. Temporary memory loss; slow reactions. There was definitely a head injury there. "Just take it easy, Cub. I need to know if you're hurt."

Cub started to shake his head, but stopped abruptly with a hiss of pain. Carefully, he brought his hand up and touched the back of his head.

"Blood?" Wolf asked sharply, not taking his hand off his arm. If Cub had cut his head open, they would forfeit the exercise. No question about it.

"No," Cub replied shortly. More steadily this time, and more slowly, he raised himself into a sitting position and brushed his hands off on his combats. The pain must have helped to clear his head. "There's just a lump. I – I fell. Knocked myself out."

Now _that_ image was completely wasted on a training exercise. Any other time, Wolf would have laughed his head off. But somehow he didn't buy it.

"I don't think so, Cub. You shouted at Snake right before you two hit the ground, so stop pissing around and tell the truth. Were you attacked? How did your lip get split?"

Cub stared at him. "Attacked? How could I be attacked here? No, I was walking behind you and I saw - wait, Snake? Oh, shit! Is he okay?"

Cub started scrambling to his feet, head injury seemingly forgotten, but before Wolf could reply Snake materialised at his shoulder.

"I'm fucking _fine_ Cub," he snarled, "no thanks to you. Now do you mind telling me why the _hell_ you did that?!"

"Did what?" Wolf asked, very aware of the fact that Cub had been unconscious with a head injury a few minutes ago.

"He floored him," Eagle provided, looking almost as murderous as Snake. "He pulled him onto the ground, and Snake punched him as he went down." Eagle's fist was clenched, as if he would like to punch Cub right now too.

"_Why?"_

"Why don't you ask Cub?"

Three sets of eyes turned to their youngest teammate. Slowly, he climbed to his feet. No arm was extended to help him. He frowned, looking at the ground as if trying to compose himself, then took a deep breath.

"You were about to step on a mine," he said quietly.

Snake's face drained of all colour.

"_What? _Where?" Eagle swivelled around and immediately went bounding in the direction of Cub's outstretch arm. He didn't have to look far. "Shit!" he swore, coming to a dead halt a few metres away. Carefully, he climbed around the little bump in the earth and crouched down to inspect it.

"How did you know that was there?" Wolf demanded, unnerved.

"I was looking at the ground while I was walking."

"Why?"

Cub glared at him suddenly. It wasn't intimidating - not for Wolf - but he had to hold the surprised off his face.

"This isn't grass. It's too springy. It's Astro-turf, made of rubber. I thought it might have been for a reason and it looks like I was right, doesn't it?"

Wolf could have kicked himself. This was exactly what they were trained to recognise! What the hell was he thinking? Special forces training - walking through a fucking _field_?!

"Why didn't you say anything?" he snarled.

"I didn't think it was important until I saw that thing."

"No? What did you expect to see - a golden ticket? Any of us could have been blown up because you're too _exclusive_ to work in a team!"

Cub froze. His expression looked as if Wolf had punched him in the gut. Snake put a hand on Wolf's shoulder, but he jerked it away.

"What's the matter, Cub? Truth hurt? Admit it: you don't want to be here. We've got a leader, a medic and a sniper; we need a weapons expert. But he jumped ship. We don't need a kid, we _definitely_ don't need some kid sp-"

"That's enough!" Snake stepped between them swiftly, making Wolf stumble back a step. "What the hell d'you think you're doing? Cub just stopped me from stepping on a mine!"

"If he'd told us about the turf-"

"You wouldn't have believed him!"

Wolf opened his mouth to snap back, but Eagle chose that moment to re-join them and almost unconsciously stepped between Wolf and Snake, doubling the distance between him and Cub.

"It's definitely a mine," Eagle informed them, then hesitated. "The wiring looks like the grenades they use in the killing house."

"So you think it's a stunner?" asked Cub, relief thick in his voice.

Eagle rubbed his forehead. "Must be," he said at length. "I mean, they're trying to train us, not kill us."

"You're not a weapons expert though, are you, Eagle?"

"That's _enough_, Wolf!" Snake hissed. "This is supposed to be about teamwork! We're supposed to be a team, with equal responsibility and equal amounts of blame. Turning everything on Cub is not helping."

"He's right, Wolf," Eagle chipped in. "R Unit are way ahead of us."

R Unit. Wolf had forgotten about them.

"Do you think they found the mines?" he asked.

"They must have. Or they somehow managed to avoid them. Maybe R Unit had the sense to check where they were putting their feet." Snake slapped Cub on the shoulder, but pulled any real punch out of the blow. "Well done, kid."

"We're really behind. We need to be back by four, remember?" Eagle reminded them. Outwardly he was as focused as ever, squinting down the field as if he could see the end of it. Wolf knew better, though; Eagle's fingers were twisting the material of his pockets into scrunched knots, a trademark of stress that few knew about. He wanted to get out of here, and he wasn't the only one.

And then, for a split second, the floodlight above them blinked. But Snake had chosen that moment to rub his eye, Eagle had his back to the light and Wolf's eyes were on Cub's back, casting them in shadow.

Alex was the only one who noticed. He sensed more than saw the flash of darkness, but before he could react, the lights around them were glaring again with full intensity and he was already wondering if he'd imagined it. Alex hesitated, torn – should he tell K Unit? – and then remembered: head injury.

Yes, he'd definitely imagined it. He wasn't thinking straight. Alex shook himself and hurried to catch up with Snake, who had started out again down the stretch of pseudo-grass; this time, all four pairs of eyes were scanning the ground in front of them as they walked. The throb at the back of Alex's head wasn't getting any better. If one of the lights went off again, he'd say something. Maybe he'd tell Snake. He couldn't deal with hallucinations or whatever on top of SAS training.

Alex didn't bother looking up at the perimeter wall where the light had flashed. So he didn't see the shadow that darted across it as K Unit made their way across phase 2, a machine gun slung across its lithe shoulder.

* * *

The agent was waiting. His back was pressed against the thick metal post, attached to it one of the beacons that cast light upon the SAS course. Rigidly straight and unnaturally still, he was dark-haired and Caucasian, with a face that would have had plenty of potential. His name had been left behind with his fingerprints, and these days (the only days that mattered in his opinion) he went by a string of codenames, a new one for every assignment.

This time it was Red. He was still deciding whether he liked it or not.

The man that Red was supposed to be meeting was late. Every minute added another wave of pressure that stifled the air and ignited agitation inside him like an old wound. Fortunately, however, patience was mandatory in his profession; sometimes he would spend entire days lying flat on a roof, waiting for the target to appear in his crosshairs.

It was the squeaking of shoes that finally informed him that he had company. Sure enough, when he looked he saw a younger man striding across the wall, hands tucked in his pockets.

"Chilly tonight, isn't it?"

"Where have you been?" Red snapped. He might be accustomed to lateness, but that didn't mean that it was something their organisation could afford.

"Chill your beans. One of the soldiers nearly saw me up on the wall. They know about the mines."

Red narrowed his eyes. Behind his back, his hand curled around the handle of a sharp, curved knife. "I'm assuming that they didn't blow themselves up, then. So first two phases have failed. What did you do?"

"_Nothing_. The brat saw a mine in the grass and pulled one of the others out of the way. The idiot leader got jumpy and looked up, but he didn't see anything. Don't worry – they think they're stun grenades." There was an unmistakable sneer there.

Red just glared. "Too close. Why wasn't it concealed properly?"

The other man – Yellow – held up his hands. "Hey, don't look at me. I wasn't one of the guys who planted them." Casually, he leant against the post and drew a packet of cigarettes from his breast pocket. "Do you mind?"

"The smoke will carry."

But the younger man threw back his head and laughed aloud. He was still grinning as he tossed his hair off his face and lit the tip.

"That's good one, Red. Jesus. You're a criminal – act like it sometimes, yeah?"

Red didn't like working with this man. He was reckless. He could be terrifying, too – Red had seen him in action, and it was enough to give the hardiest of agents nightmares – but he took too many risks to secure any sort of future, and Red suspected that he was slightly mad. He'd be dead in ten years at the most.

"We can't afford any more mistakes, Yellow. Is everything ready?"

"Yeah. Tell Green that they're pretty much falling apart. Tell her to keep an eye on Wolf – he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he made it into the SAS, and he's pretty quick to react when shit goes down. He doesn't trust Rider. He'll be alert."

"And the others?"

"Neither of them are issues. Snake seems to be the closest to Rider - so if anyone will go out on a limb for Rider, it'll be Snake. Eagle doesn't trust him much more than Wolf, but his loyalty's with Snake. He won't be watching out for Rider. He's not going to be a problem for us."

Red nodded, remembering why – despite the attitude, the over-confidence, the time-wasting rebellion – they employed this man. He was good.

"Be at the next rendezvous before they are," Red ordered. "Trail them, hand over to Brown when they're reaching phase 5—"

"—and then meet you at the lake for the finale. Yeah, I know." Yellow had finished his cigarette. He blew one long stream of smoke into the air. It trailed away into wisps of cloud.

"I saw you walk in front of the light back there. One of them could have seen. Don't do anything stupid, Yellow." It was not a suggestion. Red fixed him with a hard look, and when Yellow met his eyes there was no humour there.

"As if I would." He bared his teeth in a bloody grin, a feral animal warning off its predator. Deliberately, he took the dying remains of the cigarette from between his lips and balanced it lightly between his thumb and index finger. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

The fingers snapped. The cigarette crumpled to ashes and the assassin tossed them to the wind.

* * *

I really don't like this chapter, but that's nothing new. Stuff will happen in the next one!

And hey! Look! Wild plot appeared! Please review and tell me what you thought of enemy!POV?

**Ally xoxo**


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry about the wait. I had sixth form applications, my birthday (in Paris!), the entire first season of Supernatural… (and the second one that just arrived!)

Has anybody tried out pairing mode in this fandom? I am SO tempted to put Alex and Eagle together just for the hell of it. *fangirl swoon*

Warning: Swearing. I forgot to mention before. It gets pretty heavy here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Alex was suspended, hanging in mid-air. He'd looked down a few seconds ago, and had decided _not_ to do it again. The ground was too far down for the lights to reach. The landing platform was only three monkey bars away – his problem was that he'd lost all momentum about a minute ago, and since then he'd been hanging here like this.

The bar was dewy with rain. Alex's fingers were already straining.

"COME ON, CUB!"

Alex swore and the wind took his words. Did Wolf really think that yelling at him would make him move? What the hell was his problem anyway? Surely they knew that if Alex fell, it would be him – the leader – taking the rap.

But he wasn't going to fall. Alex didn't doubt that there was a lake or a net to stop him from falling to his death (though after the mine incident he was more inclined to doubt it than usual) but that didn't mean that he wanted to fall fifty feet into very solid water. Clenching his teeth, he strengthened his grip on the bar, and propelled his feet forwards.

He was four again, back in the playground and surrounded by the sounds of laughing children. Ian was teaching him to swing.

_"It's hard. Why can't you just push me, Ian?"_

_"Because I won't always be here to do that. You have to learn to do things on your own."_

His legs swung forwards shakily. They only reached a few inches in height before he began to fall back. Alex snatched the tiny burst of momentum and swung his hips backwards. The next time he swung forward, he was higher. Good. That meant he was making progress.

Three more swings later, the blood had completely drained from his arms and his fingers felt like they'd been dipped in ice cold water. The muscles in his wrists were ready to burst through his skin, but he didn't have enough momentum yet...

As Alex swung forward, the bar slipped from between his fingers.

_"Ow! Ian!"_

_"...Alex? How did you fall off the swing?"_

Alex jerked in shock and the tips of his fingers clamped down automatically. For a horrible moment, his mind was filled with thoughts – feelings, vivid _sensations _– of it slipping until his hands closed on nothing and gravity took him.

_"I let go of the bar... Ian, my arm hurts..."_

_"Let me see. You can't lose concentration, Alex. Not even for a second."_

He took a breath, and carefully curled his fingertips. Shaking with adrenaline, they wound around the cold metal, lifting him a degree higher. Securing him.

That was too close. He couldn't afford to lose concentration again – but he couldn't lose momentum either, and he'd already lost the rhythm.

Forward. Air rushed past him. Back. Forward. Back. Forward...

His arms couldn't take another swing. Alex swung back and pushed all his remaining energy into propelling himself forwards. With a yell, he let go of the bar and flung his hand out to the next one. It slammed into the hard metal before he was ready and he clenched his fist tightly, grabbing the momentum and swinging himself onto the next bar, and then the next.

The platform was beneath him. Alex's aching arms gave up and he collapsed onto the wooden slats.

"You made it."

Eagle was standing above him. After a second, he held out his hand, but Alex shook his head.

"I think my arms are going to fall off."

The soldier barked a laugh. "Get used to it."

When he got to his feet, he noticed that Wolf and Snake were already moving to the next stage. Something about that annoyed him more than Wolf's other shit. Maybe it was that Snake had gone too. Or that Wolf hadn't looked him in the eye since they'd left the mine.

Eagle read his mind. "Yeah, sorry about Wolf. He can be an arsehole when he wants to."

Being back on ground felt strange. His legs were a little unsteady. Luckily, there was a long platform to walk before they had to do any more acrobatics.

Suddenly Alex was sick, sick of this whole thing. The tripwire course. Wolf. The SAS. Brecon fucking Beacons.

He'd been fine in America - up until the car had hit him.

According to Jones, the driver had sped up, not slowed down, when he stepped out into the road. Alex wouldn't know - one second he'd been crossing the road, only moments away from arriving in his daunting new high school; the next everything was a spinning, screaming mess and the ground was rushing towards him. Then he was in a high security hospital room. All Alex knew for sure was that he was entirely in MI6's hands.

"Cub? You coming?"

Eagle was looking at him expectantly. Alex nodded and fell into step beside him. Suddenly something was eating away at him. Like he'd missed something. But what was there to miss?

Nothing. He was imagining things; he had to be. He wasn't on a mission any more. He was being paranoid. Everything had gone to plan, after all – well, apart from Wolf being a dick and Snake nearly stepping on the mine.

_There_. There it was, that feeling.

The mine.

_"You can't lose concentration, Alex. Not even for a second."_

Something about the thought of that mine made him cold, colder than the chill tonight. An unnerving, bone-deep cold. The SAS weren't cold like that. They were harsh and gruelling, but they were also up-front and, from what Alex had seen, relatively honest. They told their soldiers what they were letting themselves in for – somehow it didn't feel like the SAS to hide stun mines on an assault course.

It felt far too much like MI6.

But if the SAS hadn't put it there, who had?

A terrible thought hit him like a brick wall. Alex stopped dead. It couldn't be…?

No. They were finished. He was delusional even considering that they might be...

But what if they were? What if they were back? If they were on the rise again, then he would be the first on their hit list. They'd come so close to killing every schoolchild in Britain, obliterating half of Australia and starting a war that could have crippled nations. They could have easily been responsible for the attempt in America…

A lump of dread dropped into his stomach. If he was right and the mine had been an assassination attempt – _another_ one – then Scorpia wasn't going to let K Unit blow their cover. The second they reached the end of the course, the rest of the SAS camp would hear about hidden mines and someone would realise that they weren't meant to be there.

Suddenly Alex found himself alone. Eagle had strode onwards obliviously without him. He needed to catch up with Eagle, with all of K Unit, and speak to them. Maybe they wouldn't believe him, but he had to say something, because if Alex was right – and there was a horrible, familiar tingling in his spine that told him he was – then whoever had tried to blow them up wasn't going to let K Unit reach the end of the course.

Right now his priority was getting out of here – alive.

* * *

It was dark. Perched atop scattered paperwork, the digital clock read a little past 2am. Silver trails were sliding down the windows.

But the Sergeant couldn't leave yet. Until K and R Unit returned from the tripwire course, the lights had to stay on; it was camp policy. To make things worse, R Unit had just radioed in saying that Scarab had sliced his foot open and they were pulling out of the exercise. At least, he _thought_ that was what they had said. Something out there – maybe the weather, but he doubted it; SAS equipment was designed to survive far worse conditions than this – was scrambling their radios. The units based in the lake had been pulled out too (they didn't want soldiers with hypothermia, after all) and the ones on the assault course had made record time and were back in their cabins.

The Sergeant was sitting at his desk, a report open in front of him. He had been reading the same sentence for five minutes now. It just wasn't sinking in. Dammit, he hated these new night exercises. Once a fortnight he had been able to manage, but twice a week? The overall performance of the units had dropped. Soldiers needed sleep, but thanks to this new government initiation they weren't getting any. He should file a formal complaint – not that it would do any good.

His musings were interrupted by a quiet knock on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and a relatively new recruit called Raven entered.

"Sir?"

"What is it?"

"There's a phone call for you up at HQ, sir. It's being redirected to your mobile."

As if on cue, his mobile began to ring with a metallic blast. The Sergeant picked it up swiftly, but his thumb hovered over the glowing "Accept Call" button. The number was blocked.

"Wait a minute, Corporal," he said to the soldier, who was clearly waiting for dismissal. He looked far too uncomfortable for the Sergeant's liking. "Why did I need prior warning for a phone call?"

In the time that Raven hesitated, the phone rung twice. "Because it's the head of Special Operations, sir."

The Sergeant was glad of his RTI training then. It took quite some effort to keep his face blank.

"Thank you, Corporal. You're dismissed."

There was another harsh ring as Raven slipped back out of the door, and another as the Sergeant sank back into his chair. Special Operations… usually, he would give himself a moment to backtrack and work out why SO might be calling before answering their call. But it was really quite hard to concentrate with this damned blasting in his ears. Resolving that he needed a new ringtone, he composed himself and accepted the call.

"Sergeant Nicholls."

"Good morning, Sergeant," greeted a pleasant female voice. "This is Mrs Jones speaking. I apologise for the hour."

"Not at all, ma'am," he replied as he'd done a hundred times before. "Why is it that you've called?"

"There's been an update in the Alex Rider investigation that I thought you should be made aware of."

The Sergeant straightened a little in his chair. Whatever he might have been expecting, it wasn't this.

"As you know, an assassination attempt was made by an unknown group four months ago. We suspected Scorpia, but had no evidence against them at the time."

"And do you have evidence against them now?"

"Not exactly. But we have intelligence. I think you were informed that five agents were sent to chase the leads we had after the incident?"

"I was."

"One of them has been successful."

He felt his eyes go a little wider. If the recent rumours about Scorpia's regeneration – not to mention its ruthlessness – were true, this was some news. "He's – they've infiltrated Scorpia?"

"They've infiltrated an organisation. We can't be one hundred per cent sure that it's Scorpia. Their communication has been somewhat… limited by their situation. But yes, we suspect… Scorpia."

The Sergeant let out a slow breath. So Scorpia were gunning for Cub. "So what do you want me to do, Mrs Jones? I can up security, if that's what you want. Keep Rider under constant watch."

"No, I don't think that's the best option. Alex won't appreciate a prison cell – and I doubt you could find one that could contain him for long anyway."

"Then what? He can't continue normal traini—"

"He'll have to. There isn't another option. Just make sure he stays on the beaten track – don't send his unit on any excursions or survival training." There was a pause, and when she spoke again he heard the strain in her voice. "When I sent him to Brecon Beacons, it was with the instructions to integrate him into the environment. I hoped that Alex would find a place that he was accepted. But the situation is different now, Sergeant: he must be watched at all hours. Alex has an unfortunate habit of wandering into things that he shouldn't, and I would hate for it to be his downfall."

Ah. Perhaps K Unit shouldn't be sent for another round on the tripwire course, then.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll make sure he's not left alone – but may I ask one favour?" the Sergeant asked.

"That depends on what it is," Mrs Jones replied with a hint of warning. There were lines that were not to be crossed, and he should know where they lay.

"Your agent in Scorpia – or whichever organisation it turns out to be. Who are they?"

"I can't tell you that, Sergeant."

"Mrs Jones—"

"It is my duty to protect my agents, Sergeant," she cut him off sharply.

"And mine my soldiers," he countered, just as sharp. "I allowed Rider back into Brecon Beacons for protection, and now his being here might be putting us all at risk. I think I have a right to know whose hands my men's lives are in."

There was a silence at the other end of the phone, long enough to give him a flicker of hope that she might actually be considering it.

But, of course, this was MI6. He could probably squeeze more information from a stone.

"I can't reveal my agent's identity," said Mrs Jones carefully. "But I can tell you that they are extremely deep within the organisation, and they've taken a great deal of risk to get so far in so little time. They're the best I have, and I personally trust them not to fail."

"Thank you, Mrs Jones," the Sergeant replied. "And for what it's worth, I hope you're right."

* * *

Alex caught Snake's arm.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Can't it wait until after the course? We're on the last phase."

It was true; they standing were on a high ropes platform. Getting up there had the best part of an hour and now the sky's dark edge was fading. It was starting to hail, tiny, hard drops of water.

"Snake, I think something's wrong. I think we're in danger."

At once Alex had his full attention. His eyes had been drifting towards Wolf and Eagle - who were standing _very_ close to the edge of the platform - but now they snapped back to Alex. His eyebrows furrowed in a frown.

"Danger? How do you mean?" he asked steadily. His tone reminded Alex of the one Wolf had used earlier when he'd been knocked out. Somehow, it wasn't what Alex needed to hear.

"The mine. It wasn't meant to be there."

"What? Cub, what are you talking about?"

"I mean - this is a training course, and the mine could have..."

"Could have what?"

Snake seemed to have grown, or else his gaze, full of concern, was boring Alex down into the earth.

"Look, it just doesn't feel right, okay?" Alex snapped. "I know, it's - it _was_ my job to notice things like that, and I really think that mine wasn't supposed to be there, Snake!"

Snake stared doubtfully. He visibly hesitated before speaking. "Look, Cub, it's been an intense few hours, and it's great that you've kept going... but we need to get that head injury checked out when we get back."

"No-"

"I'm not saying it's your fault, but you're stressed and your mind's overcompensating. It happens to the best of us."

"I am not making it up," Alex ground out, ready to punch something in frustration. Hopefully not Snake. "Something's not right! Have _you_ ever seen a mine hidden in a training course before?"

Snake looked foiled, but only for a second. "No, but I've only been with Special Forces for a year, kid. And you've only been here for a few months. The course is new, it's experimental. When we get back to base we'll tell them to cut out the mines, but right now we need to concentrate on getting back, okay?"

Alex swallowed. Was it really possible that he was imagining this? Like the flash of light he'd seen - _thought_ he'd seen - back in the field?

Back on a mission, the answer would have been no, a hundred times over. But things were different here, and Alex found himself replaying over in his head all of the times he had trusted his instincts to keep him alive. Retracing Ian's steps in Cornwall, investigating Damien Cray, following Ben in Bangkok; they'd kept him alive then... but there were other times, times that they had been horribly wrong. He had almost got Sabina killed on Air Force One. He'd trusted Ash. He'd trusted _Scorpia_.

Everybody said that he had the luck of the devil, but surely there was more to it than that?

Snake sighed and switched tactics. "Look, we can't stay out in these conditions. You know that. We need to get back to base."

He was right: hail was the second most treacherous weather for the SAS. Not quite as dangerous as electric storms, but worse than rain alone. Right now it was light, but in an hour or so it would probably be blinding. Whatever dangers he may or may not have made up in his head, the hail was real.

"Okay," said Alex from a long way away. "Let's go."

Wolf stood up when they approached. "At last. Let's get this thing finished. Eagle?"

Eagle nodded, knowing without Wolf needing to ask that he was better with words.

"It's a bridge," he explained. "It starts out pretty wide but gets narrower. See that bit up ahead?" He pointed. "It becomes a pole. I'm guessing you have to crawl over that part, or maybe swing underneath. And it probably slopes down towards the end so we end the course on the ground. Questions? No? Wolf, are we good to go?"

"Should be," he grunted. "Cub, you're the lightest so you should go first—"

"Hang on," Alex interrupted. "I've never gone first before. You're the leader, you always do it."

Wolf's jaw tightened. "We need you on the lookout, Cub. We don't want another mine incident and I can't check where we're stepping if I'm leading us too."

Alex thought for a moment before resolving that it actually made sense. He shrugged okay. If anything, the single made Wolf even angrier. Alex could swear he heard the man's teeth grind.

"Cub goes first. I'll be second, Eagle third, Snake last. Let's go."

Before he knew it, Alex was being steered over to the start of the bridge. It made of intertwined metal boards, high up but wide enough to walk on. Alex stepped onto it with his right foot first.

Immediately there was a metallic groan, shockingly loud. Alex felt the board give a huge shudder through his foot and jumped back – right into Wolf.

"Cub? What is it?"

"That thing's not safe," he said, and instantly knew it to be true. It was wrong; the whole thing was built wrong. It was too thin, like strips of aluminium foil.

"What?" Wolf asked impatiently. "Of course it's safe. It's just a new piece of equipment. They always creak a bit."

"'Specially in this weather," Eagle added.

"Just go across it, Cub. We haven't got time for this."

"Wolf, I am telling you that this thing does not feel safe!"

Wolf squared his shoulders. Suddenly the two of them were face to face, and Alex couldn't help but notice that Wolf was both a hell of a lot taller _and_ thicker built.

"And I am telling you, as your _team leader_, to get across the fucking bridge."

Alex shook his head. No. No more. He was done with order. He no longer cared about the consequences. He spat the one word that had been on the tip of his tongue since he'd arrived here.

"_No._"

Wolf lost it. He leapt at Alex. Snake and Eagle jumped in instantly, grabbing his arms and hauling him back.

"What is your _fucking problem_?!" he yelled. "It's a fucking bridge, Cub! You're in the _fucking SAS_!"

"And I'm not _fucking_ going over it!"

Wolf lurched forwards against the restraints. Alex flinched, but the punch never came. Snake yanked Wolf back roughly and shoved him away with enough force to send him sprawling.

"No! You can't keep _doing_ this—"

Wolf reared up and shoved Snake hard in the chest. With a noise like a growl, Eagle stepped in, grabbing Wolf's shirt with one hand and holding his other clenched fist high.

"For fuck's sake, Wolf, _calm down_! We don't need this! You're going to kill each other if you keep this up!"

"Yeah, Eagle?" Wolf stepped forward. Their faces were inches apart. "Fuck you. Cub's disobeying a direct order. You know the rules."

"We're a _team_, Wolf!"

"Fuck you too, Snake! Fuck all of this - fuck pretending that this is actually working - that him being here is _ever_ going to work!"

An accusing finger was thrown in Alex's direction and the fight died. Wolf's words rang in the air.

Alex turned automatically to look at Snake, expecting some sort of pacifistic comeback. But the man was running a hand through his hair, face twisted. He looked from Wolf to Alex and in the second that their eyes met, Alex saw that he was torn. Wolf had just called checkmate.

He didn't belong here, and Snake couldn't deny it. He was MI6. There was nothing he would ever to able to do to change that.

There was no point. Why was he even trying?

"You know what, Wolf?" said Alex. "Fuck you too. I didn't ask to be here."

Before they could react, he took three steps off the edge of the platform and onto the bridge. There was a beat of anticipation before Alex let go of the breath he'd been holding. The bridge was safe.

"See?" he heard Wolf say behind him. "It's fine."

Everything exploded. A horrific metal shriek blasted him forwards, the ground disappearing from beneath his feet. The air was sucked from his lungs, black and blinding white spinning around him. All he was aware of was falling, down, down, down.

There was an agonising scream from somewhere up above, and then the floodlights clicked out.

* * *

So… does anybody want Alex to survive? If you review, I might consider it…

**Ally xoxo**

(P.S. The title and cover of this story should hopefully make sense now :D)


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